Where we find common ground
by NonoNootje
Summary: Shortly after Lara Owen turns 11, a professor from a strange school comes to the orphanage she lives in. He tells her the stories she heard about 'crazy' Tom were true, but not to tell others about it when she goes to the school of Hogwarts. Placed into a class full of strong people, she finds herself happy. Happy to call them her friends. But what happens when Voldemort rises...?
1. Prologue

Prologue

It was a cold and rainy night. Christmas Eve 1962.

The minister of Magic was on his way home from a banquet with the heads of each of the seven departments within the Ministry of Magic and their families.

Normally on these occasions the minister and his wife would apparate near the Ministry of Magic, but since this was the first time they had taken their two-year-old daughter with them, they had decided not to apparate.

Because his wife was also worried that floo power would be damaging for the toddler and because the minister had passed his muggle car driving test just that summer (with maybe indeed a bit of help from his wand) they had decided on driving home.

The minister liked driving by car. It gave him this certain feeling of freedom and silence. He barely did it and only even started it because the muggle Prime Minister had given him free driving classes. It had been a present for his election three years ago. It had taken a bit of convincing, but in the end, his wife had allowed him to start. And that is what had brought him to this precise moment.

Both his wife and his daughter were asleep. It had been a long night, but both were happy they had come.

The minister contemplated whether or not to turn on the radio softly to keep him company, but one look at his sleeping wife, stopped him. He couldn't wake her up. Not when she was sleeping so calmly.

Except…

It came fast. The minister didn't have time to react or even think about what was happening or what he should be doing.

The car came from a dead-end street and had stirred into the wrong lane. It's driver highly intoxicated.

When the minister saw the car, it was already too late.

The only one to hear the crash was two-year-old Lara Arleta Owen. The impact of the two cars colliding had woken her up. It was a miracle that she survived.

She started to cry. But neither her papa, nor her momma was there to comfort her. Not anymore…


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

March 1971

Three. Four. Five times the same note. It sounded oddly creepy. But the girl playing the notes didn't think so. She was extremely bored and hadn't want to play the piano. But it was Friday afternoon, around 4:20, which meant that for twenty minutes, the piano was all hers and she was obligated to practice it.

The girl had an extreme dislike of the instrument, but her numerous previous protest had proven not to work, so she had given up on it and just played the dang instrument when she had to.

Over eight years had passed since the police had dropped Lara off at Wool's orphanage in London and she had recently turned 11. There was something about that age that appealed to her. Finally, she was one of the big children and not a little one anymore. It seemed oddly satisfying to be 11. In a weird way, the age seemed almost _magical_ to her.

Growing up in the orphanage was a mixture of quiet, poverty, wealth, discipline and fun. In her early years, Lara had sometimes hoped distant relatives would come pick her up or that a stranger would adopt her. But over the years, those hopes changed into secret dreams that she fully well knew, would never come true.

Times were rough in the city of London and growing up in the sixties didn't help the orphans' odds of getting adopted. Be real, no one ever made it out of there. Not until the day they turned eighteen. From that day on, they were on their own. It was a dreaded day that no one liked to talk about.

From Mrs. Cole, the orphanage matron who was in either her late fifties or early sixties and who had been working here for as long as anyone could remember, she had heard that the morning Lara had arrived at the orphanage was the morning of Christmas now over eight years ago.

Mrs. Cole had said that it was a car-accident that had taken her parents away and that she arrived the morning after. Not much else was known about it and Lara didn't want to ask. She was curious, but had become at peace with the fact. It was her past and she didn't believe it would change her present.

Although The only thing she disliked was the fact that she had to play that bloody instrument twice a week for twenty minutes.

she would never publicly admit to it, she liked it in Wool's Orphanage. The other residents were her family as she had never known another. The girls were her sisters and the guys her brothers, the matrons almost like a mother.

The building, which may seem cold to strangers, was warm to her. It was her home. Besides, it gave her security she wouldn't get on the streets. Though, indeed, sometimes they were close to real poverty, but sometimes they were wealthy.

'Lara, would you like to start practicing instead of playing that annoying note continuously? It is driving me crazy,' one of the older girls, who was trying to read a book before it was her turn to play, scolded her.

After a deep sigh, Lara sat straight on the piano stool and laid her hands on the keys. Just when she wanted to play, one of the younger boys came running in.

'Lara! Lara!' the boy said, all out of breath. 'Mrs. Cole want you in her office at once. You're said to skip practice now and continue it tonight. Quickly, she doesn't want to wait.' He had expected that it would take a bit of time to convince her to stop playing, for he loved playing and wished he was granted a bit more time with the ivory.

But the first couple of words were enough for Lara, who had wasted yet another practice, and by the time he was done talking, she had left the room, basically skipping to Mrs. Cole's office.

It was a mystery to her why the matron wished to see her, but she wasn't a bad girl. She usually kept to the rules, unless she believed them to be utter bullshit, but since she had been perfectly good the last couple of months, she didn't think that was the case. Therefore, she wasn't scared to go in. It could only be good news. Right?

As soon as Lara arrived at Mrs. Cole's office, she knocked on the door and when she heard the matron's strict voice, she opened the door and walked in.

To her surprise, Mrs. Cole wasn't the only person in the room. In one of the chairs in front of the desk sat a curious looking man. He seemed incredibly old. He had a long hair and possibly an even longer beard, both of which had long lost their color.

The man wore a bright turquoise suit that, though fitted perfectly, looked extremely odd. This was the kind of suit that Mrs. Cole would normally disapprove of and judging by the way she was twitching her nose, she did now as well.

But, besides the man's age and his suit, the cowboy boots he was wearing, were probably the weirdest, Lara decided. Up until he started to speak.

'You must be Lara Owen. I am professor Dumbledore,' the man said and Lara had to do quite a lot not to start laughing at his name, as it was quite a funny name. But she didn't as she knew she might even get killed if she did. 'I am the headmaster of Hogwarts; a school we would like you to go to.'

Well that was something Lara did not know how to respond to.

'Hogwarts? What is that? And why would you want me to go there? I mean, I am perfectly fine going to school here with everyone else,' she protested, quite confused. She completely forgot to tell that she was indeed Lara Owen.

'I'll leave you two to it. Lara, Mr. Dumbledore will explain everything to you. I expect you to be on your best behavior. Call me when you are finished,' Mrs. Cole said, whilst she stood up, after which she left the office and closed the door behind her, leaving Lara alone with professor Dumbledore.

'Why don't you sit down, Lara. What I am about to tell you might come to you as a shock,' the man sat and as she didn't know what other thing to do, she obeyed and sat down in front of the man. 'Good, now, to answer your question, Hogwarts is a rather special school. A school for people like you.'

'People like me? You mean orphans? But why don't you want the other people as well?' she asked confused.

'No, not quite. Hogwarts is a school for young wizards and witches. We teach magic at Hogwarts,' the man explained and he smiled friendly from behind his small, round glasses.

A nervous and insecure giggle escaped from Lara's mouth. She quickly recovered. 'I am sorry, professor Dumbledore, I didn't mean to laugh. It just sounds so…' Her voice trailed off. She didn't know how to say it without hurting his feelings.

'Odd, unbelievable, stupid, crazy? I've heard quite a lot of things already. It is perfectly normal to not believe me. But it is the truth. As strange as it may sound to you, you are a witch, Lara.' He looked her in the eyes, something no adult had ever done. He treated her like an equal. You wouldn't lie to an equal would you?

'Just to be clear. I mean, you are not joking, are you? Am I really a witch? But how?' she said insecurely.

She didn't know what to think. A part of her wanted to believe him and did so. The other part, the more rational one, told her it was impossible. We didn't live in the middle ages anymore. No one in their right mind would believe in something like magic. Unless it was true.

The man chuckled, small, honest chuckle, but shook his head. 'No, I am not joking. You are a witch. As for the how, your parents were too.'

'But how do you know that? My parents are dead. I don't even know them,' she protested, but it was like mopping with the tap still open. She knew she was convinced already. It was something inside of her that felt like it had to protest. Again, the rational part, but it was losing ground fast.

'I know and I'm sorry. I know they died in a car crash eight years ago. I knew your parents quite well, and I was really sorry when I heard the news. But I can guarantee you that they were wizards. And they would have wanted you to go to Hogwarts,' he said and Lara felt her throat close up. She barely ever had that feeling anymore. It had been a type of coping everyone just kind of did around here. If you didn't think about it, the feelings would stop in the end.

'So, what do you say? Do you want to go to Hogwarts?' he continued when he saw Lara was unable to speak without bursting into tears.

'Before I answer, can I ask you something, professor?' Lara asked, holding back the tears. Just think about something else, she pushed herself and in the end, it worked.

'I think you just did, but of course. Ask me anything you want to know,' professor Dumbledore said, his light blue eyes twinkling.

'We have this thing here, were we tell each other _legends_ about previous residents. And there is one that always struck to me as absolutely bullshit, excuse the expression. But now…' again, her voice trailed off while she was looking for the proper words to say.

'But now you have doubts. Which is perfectly understandable. Go on, tell me the story and I will tell you if it is true or absolute bullshit, excuse the expression,' he said calmly and that was the precise moment Lara decided to trust him blindly.

'Well, this one is from quite some time ago. I don't know how long, but long enough no one ever knew him. See, time gets lost a bit like this. The legend could be from twenty years ago, but also from a hundred years ago.' Lara realized she was trailing of, and went straight back to the story to keep professor Dumbledore's attention as much as she could.

'Anyways, this one is about this boy named Tom. Or crazy Tom as they called him. He had always been quite odd. And mean, I must say, he was quite a bully. He was the same like me. I mean that he never got any visitors too. And when he was eleven, he went away.

He went away for most of the year, only to return for summer. Some say he went to some kind of school; some say he just ran away. But every time he came back he was meaner and more aggressive. It got to the point where even the nurses were scared of him. And when he was sixteen he didn't come back at all.' She didn't look at professor Dumbledore's face when she told him the story, but when she looked up she saw he had a strange look on his face. She didn't really understand wat the face meant.

He seemed to contemplate what kind of answer he had to give Lara, who hoped she would get the truth. There was something about the story that had always seemed odd to her and she just wanted to know if it was true. Especially now when she realized the connection and that it might be true.

He sighed, after which he finally started to speak. 'I'm sorry to tell you that that story is true. But I ask you to not advertise it when you go to school. It has been about thirty years since I was the one to tell Tom he could come to Hogwarts. He has done many, many wrong things in these past times. One could say he has gone bad.'

Lara was scared to ask why the man was bad, but finally her curiosity won. 'What kind of wrong things has he done, if you don't mind me asking?' she asked, trying to sound as normal as possible.

'He's done things too horrible to speak off. Not many, but horrible things nevertheless.

Again, I ask you to not exploit this at Hogwarts. Tom, or Voldemort as he likes to call himself, has gotten quite a following. Many people live in fear of what he will do next. He is not much of a treat right now, but you can't ever know what the future will bring.'

'But what if… what if I turn out like him? I mean, I am from the same orphanage. That is a possibility right?' Lara asked, kind of scared. She didn't want to as Tom was one of the very few that was hated within the orphanage. And she liked it here. She didn't want to be hated by her friends.

'I can assure you, you are nothing like Tom. The biggest example is that I have the feeling you actually like it here. He didn't. But once at Hogwarts, if you ever feel the need to talk to me about anything, you are more than welcome. Just come to me, okay?' he smiled.

'But you haven't given me your final answer yet. Do you want to come to Hogwarts?'

'I'd love to,' she said enthusiastic, but then her smile turned upside down. 'But I can't. I can't afford it. I mean, I don't have any money and I doubt Mrs. Cole wants to pay for it.'

'Your parents were wizards too, Lara. You've come from a long line of magic. Don't you think they haven't left you anything?' professor Dumbledore said, still smiling.

'Are you serious?' she asked surprised. She had money? Why hadn't she ever known that? It was now more than ever that she wished she had known her parents. How different her life would've been if they had still been alive.

'More than serious. So is that a yes?'

'Jup.'

'Very well then. Would you like help with buying your school stuff?' he asked.

She was a bit surprised. She hadn't even thought about the things she would need for a school like Hogwarts. Would you need things like math books? Something told her the answer to that was no.

Again came the wonder about money. She had never had any money. It was just not something that was a part of her life. Of course she now apparently had money to pay for the things she needed, but she couldn't let the fact go.

All of the children in Wool's orphanage went to a public school. The younger kids to a primary school and the older kids to a secondary school. But it wasn't the orphanage who paid for the schoolbooks the children needed. The schools were the ones to provide the books for free. Usually, they were extremely old and torn books, but books nonetheless.

And now she had money. Could she finally get a real book? A new one?

'Lara? Are you still in there?'

She hadn't even realized she had dozed off, but apologized immediately. 'I'm sorry, professor. Yes, I think I would need some help. I wouldn't even know where to buy it.'

'Well, that is settled than. I'll ask one of my colleagues to arrange a date with Mrs. Cole and she will pick you up here. Next week seems like a good moment for me,' he said and she realized he wasn't asking a question. Next week it was then.

The man stood up and started to grab his coat, when he realized something. 'Oh, and before I forget it. Here is your acceptance letter to Hogwarts and your ticket for the train. My colleague will explain everything to you.' He handed Lara a thick, parchment envelop with a thick seal on it, after which he proceeded to put on his coat. 'It was really nice meeting you, Lara. I'll see you again in September.' After saying this, professor Dumbledore left the room, leaving Lara behind with nothing but the parchment envelop.


	3. Chapter 2

It took well over a week before Mrs. Cole told Lara that one of the teachers had arranged a date, but two weeks after her conversation with Dumbledore, now in the beginning of April, a tall, Scottish woman came to pick her up.

Lara was happy none of the other residents saw her leave as she would have to think up a story why she was shopping for new school stuff. Sooner or later she would have to do so as she couldn't just disappear for the bigger part of the year without people asking questions. She decided she would talk with Mrs. Cole about it when she got back this afternoon.

The woman introduced herself as professor McGonagall, head of transfiguration department. Lara knew that she was deputy headmistress as well, as she had read in the acceptance letter.

She was curious what transfiguration meant, though she could make up a picture in her mind.

She had already decided, after reading the letter Dumbledore had given her, that Hogwarts was no ordinary school and that the magic world really was like what they had thought it was in the middle ages.

She could still picture the letter in her mind. She had read it so many times that she knew what it said by heart.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mrs. Owen,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

The second page, with everything she needed on it, she had taken with her today. Though Lara was sure, McGonagall knew what to buy and where to buy it by heart, Lara did not and she wanted to keep the list with her to be sure not to forget anything.

It had been the list of books that interested her the most. Lara had always been a big reader and was excited to lay her hands on some of the magical books. She might even buy some extra books if they struck her as interesting. Just for some pleasure reading as she wasn't sure she was going to get that at Hogwarts.

It probably would take a while to settle in. Especially since she didn't know anything about the magical world. She was probably extremely far behind compared to her future classmates, just because she was raised in the non-magic world.

Would she be the only one? She must be, right?

'I suggest we walk to town. It is only a couple of miles and the weather is great. Besides, I don't really get the muggle transport,' McGonagall said as soon as they had left the orphanage.

'Muggle? What on earth is a muggle?' Lara asked surprised. She had never heard of that word but the way McGonagall had said it, seemed like it was a normal thing to know, thus resulting in Lara feeling stupid, for not knowing it.

'Muggles are non-magical people. Everyone else in your orphanage is a muggle. You are not,' she explained and Lara immediately knew why she didn't know the word. It was not a general word in the normal world. Or 'muggle'-world. And with muggle transport, McGonagall had obviously meant the tube. Which, to the contrary, Lara didn't get either. 'Shall we go?'

Lara nodded and followed McGonagall through the streets of London. She seemed to know exactly where to go to. Lara, on the other hand, did not.

After a good thirty minutes of walking through all sorts of streets, both big and small, McGonagall eventually stopped and went into a teeny tiny brown pub. Lara did not know what to do. Should she follow her or not? Was she allowed to follow her? Or had McGonagall only entered the pub to ask for directions to where she was heading?

Lara quickly decided to follow McGonagall. She had the feeling that if she didn't and she was supposed to follow her, McGonagall would be very annoyed to have to go back outside and get her. It seemed like the better option over being send outside again.

'Well, Lara, we're here. This is the Leaky Cauldron. The only way into Diagon Alley,' McGonagall said, just after she stopped walking. Lara had been too absorbed in her surroundings that she hadn't realized this. Result, she walked right into McGonagall. 'Please watch where you are going. Let's get going now. We don't want to spend too much time.'

Quite embarrassed, Lara followed the teacher to a small room behind the bar. No one seemed to care that they were going there, so Lara suspected it was the way into Diagon Alley.

Lara couldn't really see what McGonagall did, but it resulted in the stones to disappear and an archway to appear. She should probably ask how to do this on their way back. But right now she was way too busy to look at every direction at once.

'Well, before we can buy anything, we should go to Gringotts, the wizard bank,' McGonagall concluded and started walking through the little street towards a giant, white building.

'Lara Owen likes to visit her fault,' McGonagall said to Lara's surprise. A vault? Wasn't that a little… medieval?

'Do you have the key?' a creaking voice said, that belonged to a weird creature, and McGonagall handed him an old looking key, which was Lara's, she realized. 'Number 529, it is.'

'Excellent. Let's get going.'

It was a bumpy ride but after about five minutes, they arrived at a big vault door which the creature unlocked with the key. In the vault were big piles of gold. But unknown gold to Lara. There weren't simple pounds and pence's. No, there were big gold pieces, smaller silver pieces and tiny brown coins.

'The gold ones are galleons, the silver coins are sickles and the tiny brown ones are knuts. One galleon equals seventeen sickles, and one sickle equals 29 knuts. Got it? You can always ask again if you don't get it immediately,' McGonagall explained in a fast tempo. 'Oh, and one galleon equals to about five muggle pounds. Do you've got a wallet?'

A little bit shaken, Lara shook her head. If one galleon equaled to five pounds… then she was rich. And like really, really rich. But she didn't have a wallet, she didn't have need of one. She didn't have money. Well, until now of course.

'Then I suggest we'll buy one first thing after we get out of here. Now, I suggest to fill up the pockets of your trousers. Don't take too much, you won't need that much. Yes, that should be enough,' she said after Lara had started filling up her pockets with the big golden coins. She made sure also to grab some sickles and knuts as she might need it.

After they left the bank, McGonagall showed the way to a small shop that sold all kinds of pouches. Though Lara was very interested in all the pouches that were sold, McGonagall only let her buy the most basic, cheapest one. But it turned out to hold her money just well, so Lara couldn't complain.

'Well, let's get to Madam Mallakin's for your uniform than. It'll take a bit of time, so I'll get your cauldron and potion ingredients and I'll be here when you're done. If you're done earlier, wait here for me,' she said as she pushed Lara into a little shop.

'Good afternoon, dear. Is it for Hogwarts? Step on the stool here, dear. That's it. I'll get you fitted right away,' a middle-aged woman said as she rushed Lara to a stool and let her hop on it.

Next to her was a boy that looked around her age, also being fitted for the uniform. He had black hair that literally stood in every direction possible. He seemed… nice.

'Hi, you're going to Hogwarts in September too? It's my first year, but I've been looking forward to it, my entire life,' he said while measuring tapes were measuring Lara at every place possible to be measured. 'I'm James.'

'I'm Lara, nice to meet you,' she said a bit overwhelmed by how new this was to her. And here she was, talking to a boy who had known his entire life that he was a wizard.

The boy chattered away freely, giving Lara the chance to listen and not have to think for a moment.

Indeed, it didn't take long to get fitted for the robes and by the time Lara had a bag full of them and had paid for it, McGonagall was back with a big, black pot and a large trunk. She apparently had decided to go ahead and buy that one too.

Next stop was a busy looking bookshop where Lara immediately felt at home. The bookshop was packed to the edge with people all looking at a man sitting close to check-out.

'Blimey, that is something we got. You go ahead and look for the first half of the books on your list. I'll get the second half. Try to be fast, will you. I don't like all this nonsense over a single writer. The faster we're out of here, the better.' And with that, they went their separate ways.

Lara didn't know where to look for the books on the list. The books didn't look like they were sorted by anything. Or maybe just a thing Lara didn't know what it was.

But, just as she did her second round of the bookstore, she found the first book on her list. And just like that, she started to find more books. By the time McGonagall found her, Lara had gotten the first half of the books and was looking at other books she might buy.

'Hogwarts: a history. Good choice. I remember when it was first released,' McGonagall said when she saw what book Lara was looking at.

'Can I get it?' she asked a bit insecurely. She had already realized that the Hogwarts professor wasn't one for useless purchases, but she apparently approved of buying this book.

'Of course you can. I was already a bit surprised that you haven't asked me about Hogwarts yet. Usually students are really eager to hear about it,' she said as they walked over to the check-out table.

'I am eager to hear about it. I just haven't even thought about it. I was too busy to look at everything here,' Lara defended herself. 'But would you want to tell me something now?'

And so professor McGonagall did. She explained Lara all about Hogwarts and it's houses while they paid for the books and bought a few more items until the only thing left was a wand and a pet.

'Do you want a pet? If so, you can have an owl, a cat or a toad,' McGonagall said.

Lara didn't know if she even was allowed one in the Orphanage, but then decided that she wouldn't be there for about ten months a year, anyways. And the orphanage had cats against the rats anyways. So she nodded and they went into the pet shop, where Lara immediately fell in love with a white and brown cat. Without thinking more about it, she bought the cat and was interested to hear about the fact that apparently McGonagall was a cat person too.

Their final stop was at Ollivander's Wand Shop, something Lara was really excited about. McGonagall offered to stay outside with all the stuff and so Lara went in on her own.

'Good afternoon,' a man who seemed around his fifties said as he looked up from the desk he was at. 'Coming for your wand dear? What's your name?'

'Lara Owen,' she answered a bit insecurely. The man looked at her as if he had known her, her entire life, but she was sure she had never met the man before.

'Ah, Owen. I remember your parent's wands. I'm sorry about their deaths. My name is Ollivander. Well, let's get started. Remember that you don't choose the wand. No, no. The wand chooses the wizard. What about this one, nine-and-a-half inches and dragon heartstring, a powerful wand,' he said as he handed it to Lara. She didn't really know what she was supposed to do and so she just flung it. The lamp on the corner of the desk splashed apart at the same moment, which gave Lara quite the fright.

' _Reparo_ ,' the man said and the lamp magically healed itself. 'Clearly not that one. What about this one, Phoenix feather and holly, nice and supple, eleven inches,' he said and handed a new wand to Lara, who immediately felt a cold, yet somehow familiar feeling. As soon as Lara felt the feeling, Ollivander snatched it away from her and went on looking at the next. 'That one is a difficult one. I've had it for about twenty years, never chose its wizard, that one,' he mumbled to himself as he went on to look for, obviously, the next one.

'Hmm, Dragon heartstring, ten-and-a-half inches, laurel wood. Quite the same as your mother's, I remember. Though hers was a bit longer. Why not try it,' Ollivander said as he gave the wand to Lara.

It was like the feeling she had when she touched the previous wand, only this feeling wasn't cold, this one was warm, like she could never be sad again. She didn't know what the man had meant with _"the wand chooses the wizard"_ , but Lara was quite sure that this must've been what he was talking about. And if it wasn't, Lara didn't know if she could ever let go of a wand that felt so, good.

'Wonderful. That's it. Who would've thought? Dragon heartstring, ten-and-a-half inches, laurel wood. Quite yielding. Perfect for transfiguration. Seven galleons that'll be,' he said as he took the wand from Lara again and placed it into a small, long box, while Lara took seven of the golden coins from the money-pouch.

'Thank you very much. Have a nice time at Hogwarts, darling. I'm sure we'll hear more from you in the future,' he said as he took the money and handed her the box.

She hadn't said a single word besides her name, but she felt so much more complete after the ten minutes in this store. It had done so much more for her than even hearing she was a witch. And besides, she had a wand similar to her mother's.


	4. Chapter 3

It felt like three or four years had gone by, but finally it was the 1st of September. It was a warm Wednesday, one of the last really warm days of the year.

It was an early start for everyone in the orphanage as the other residents would go back to school as well.

Mrs. Cole had come up with a very fitting story to explain Lara's absence. She had told everyone that Lara was indeed going to a new school, but had won a scholarship to go there. Practically everyone believed this was true, as Lara was a good student and had been top of her year for the past few terms.

Mrs. Cole had given Lara the money she needed to buy a ticket for the tube to go to King's Cross Station and had told her where she needed to go on and where she needed to go off. McGonagall had told her how to board the train to Hogwarts, which still seemed like a pretty weird thing to Lara. It seemed absurd to just _run through a wall._

At around ten o'clock, Lara took her trunk and the travel cage she had found in the attic, for her cat, which she had decided to call Spot, and left the orphanage for the first time since she had gotten there. It was time to go and leave the orphanage for the next seven years, only to return for the holidays.

It took some time to get to King's Cross Station but was there with thirty minutes to spare. Now she only had to find the right platform.

'Platform 9¾, just run through the barrier between platform 9 and 10 and you'll get there,' McGonagall had told her. It seemed absurd. Run through a barrier.

Of course at first she had thought McGonagall had made a mistake, but when she had read the same in "Hogwarts: A History", she knew it was real. She just had to find the right barrier.

Lara wasted a good ten minutes with walking around with her heavy trunk and the travel cage. She didn't really know where to go to and was too insecure to ask, when, finally, she saw a big family of which three teenagers with large trunks walk on the platform. They stopped before one barrier and before Lara could really see it, one had walked straight through it. So that was the one she had to have.

Lara waited before the entire family was gone before she walked to the barrier. It seemed like a normal barrier, but indeed, when Lara pushed against it, she felt herself falling through.

Getting on the train was as easy as you expect, but finding a carriage that wasn't full wasn't. She, in the end, settled for one where a boy and a girl who seemed her age were sitting.

She knocked on the door before opening it, like she would've at home. 'Excuse me, everywhere else is full. Do you mind if I join you?' she asked and was happy to hear they didn't.

'Hi, my name is Oliver Macmillan,' the boy introduced himself as Lara said down.

'I am Annie Cook,' the girl immediately said after and she offered Lara a hand, which Lara took with a smile. Her accent pointed out that she was somewhere from the high norths of Great Britain.

'I am Lara, Lara Owen. Nice to meet you. Are you guys first years too?' Lara asked interested. It would be weird to sit with people who weren't only to find out that they knew way more about the school than she did.

'Yeah, well at least I am. I don't know about Oliver here,' Annie chuckled as she looked at Oliver, only to be assured that he, indeed, was a first year as well.

'What house do you want to be in? I want to be in Hufflepuff, my entire family was there. Of course you never know until you are sorted, but I think I have a fair chance of getting in Hufflepuff,' Oliver said as he kicked his feet on the couch where Lara was sitting.

'What houses are there again? Professor Binns told me about it when we visited Diagon Alley, but I forgot a bit,' Annie said and Lara was surprised to hear that.

Was it normal for teachers to go shopping with the students? That was unlikely, right? But then why did this teacher go shopping with Annie. And why didn't she know about the houses. Lara only knew because she had read Hogwarts: A History about five times now. She knew it by heart.

'Oh, are you muggleborn? That means your parents are muggles,' Oliver asked and Annie nodded with a grin.

'Jup, they are as muggle as can be. It was quite a shock when we got the visit, but they're really proud. They even got me an owl,' she explained and it was all clear for Lara now. So there were others who hadn't known of Hogwarts. 'What about you, Lara?'

'My parents were wizards, yeah. But I never knew them. They died when I was two,' she said with a bit of a said smile on her face. She could've known that people would ask her about her parents. But she never knew them.

'Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know,' Annie apologized with a look of a mixture of horror and guilt on her face. But Lara waved it away.

'It's okay, honestly. But I'd love to be in Hufflepuff as well. Gryffindor would be cool too, same with Ravenclaw, but as I am neither brave, nor smart, I think it will be hard to get into either of them,' I quickly changed the subject.

'What about Slytherin then?' Oliver asked with a hint of a smile on his face. He didn't seem to think Slytherin was even worth thinking about.

'Oh wow, Slytherin. Nope, I don't want to be in there,' Annie laughed, answering for me. 'But don't worry guys, once I get sorted into Slytherin. I won't forget about you.'

'No, I'd rather die than be in that snake hole, to be honest,' Oliver commented and that left us all laughing.

The rest of the train journey to our new school went quiet but above all, it was a lot of fun. At around two o'clock, a lady with a trolley full of sweets walked down the hallway and asked if they wanted to buy anything.

With Oliver's recommendation, Lara bought a cauldron cakes and a chocolate frog. Though she had to admit that she was kind of scary about the frog part. She just hoped it weren't real frogs. She hated them!

'What's your cat actually called?' Annie asked out of the blue. I looked over and saw that she was looking at Spot in her cage. It had occurred to Lara that neither Oliver nor Annie had a pet. And that while McGonagall had said that it was usual for students at Hogwarts to have a pet.

But Lara was happy that she had the cat. She liked to cuddle up with her and to have her own pet. 'It's Spot. I know it's a cliché name, but I kind of like it.'

'It's a nice name! I like it,' Oliver said and he smirked at Lara.

The journey finally came to an end after hours of traveling and Oliver, Annie and Lara left the train, leaving their luggage on board as was said by a mechanic voice through the speakers of the train.

A big, hairy, terrifying looking man, was calling the first years to come over to him, so naturally they did. What else were they supposed to do? Not even Oliver seemed to know what else and he was the one to know the most about Hogwarts and everything around there.

'First years here, please!' the giant man called again and more first years came over. When the rest of the platform had cleared out and the man decided that he had all of the first years, he lead them to a small dock at the banks of a huge lake.

In front of them, on the other side of the huge lake, was a beautiful and gigantic castle. Thousands of enlightened windows were reflected into the dark water of the lake. It looked amazing.

'So that is Hogwarts? It is beautiful,' Annie whispered next to Lara in awe. Lara on the other hand couldn't even speak, so overwhelming it was. That would be her home for the next seven years. How lucky was she?

The man rushed them all into tons of small boats with the message that there were only three people per boat allowed. Oliver, Annie and Lara all stepped into one boat, doing their best not to fall in the lake.

All at once, the boats started to move, towards the castle. Although Lara wanted it, with all her heart, to be, it wasn't a pleasant trip. The boats were wobbly and every couple of minutes, she had to clutch the sides of the boat to not fall in. besides, it was very cold and windy on the lake and Lara completely froze.

After a good twenty minutes, they arrived at another dock, this one under the castle. They left the boats and followed the man, who still hadn't introduced himself, into the castle, up a couple flights of stairs. Up, until they arrived at one with McGonagall up on the top.

Lara wanted to smile at her, but didn't. Too scared that McGonagall wouldn't be so nice anymore, now that she didn't have to buy school supplies with Lara. And because she was so cold and numb, she had the feeling she didn't even know how to smile anymore.

'Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take it here from you. Welcome at Hogwarts, first years. You are going to walk into the Great Hall in a moment where your fellow students are already sitting. Once there, you will be sorted into the four houses in alphabetical order. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Each house will function as a family during your time here at Hogwarts. Be sure to give them much, because you might find yourself in a position in the future, when you want them to give back.

Let's get going now. Follow me,' McGonagall spoke, each first year hanging at her lips. As soon as she finished talking, she turned around and walked up the stairs. The first years were quick to follow her as fast as their numb legs would carry them.

McGonagall walked all the way up to two giant doors, where she quickly looked around to see if they were still standing properly and in line, after which she opened the door and started to walking again at once.

Lara wanted four pairs of eyes to help her walk in every direction possible. But that turned out to be not so simple as she wished it to be. The Great Hall was beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. And frankly, she didn't even mind the hundreds of eyes looking at her. Something she would normally despise.

McGonagall stopped them in front of a shorter table with, probably, all the teachers at it. But in between them and the teachers table, was a small stool with an old, worn out hat on it.

McGonagall picked the hat up and looked at a list. 'When your name is called, walk up here, sit on the stool and put on the Sorting Hat. It will sort you into the house you belong in. Let's see. Aarons, Michelle,' she called out and a small, very nervous looking girl walked over, nearly tripped, then said on the stool and waited for McGonagall to place the hat on her head.

As soon as the hat touched her hair, it shouted out: 'RAVENCLAW!' And as soon as it did that, a giant roar came from the table in the far end of the hall and Michelle walked over there.

'Black, Sirius' was next up and he trotted, arrogantly, over towards the stool. He walked around as if he had been at the school for years, instead of the hours, just like everyone else. Oh, Lara hoped she wasn't in the same house as he was. It would be hard to live with someone as arrogant as he seemed to be. Oh, let him not be in Hufflepuff.

The hat took a bit longer to think about him than he did about Michelle, but eventually called out: 'GRYFFINDOR!' This time the roar came from the table closest to them, but it wasn't the only roar they could hear. There was another roar as well, from the table next to the Ravenclaw table. But that one wasn't as cheery as the one from the Gryffindor table. No, it seemed to be an angry roar. As if they were insulted that this Black guy was sorted into Gryffindor and not into that house.

But the guy didn't even seem to care and just trotted, as confident and arrogant as before, towards the Gryffindor table. And just like that, the sorting continued.

One student later, it was Annie's turn. She seemed more nervous than a couple of minutes ago, but she walked over as normal as she could. The hat took a good minute, but eventually sorted her into Hufflepuff. Something she seemed very pleased about. That was one in Hufflepuff already, maybe they could all be in the same house.

Daniels, Tara was the first to be in Slytherin, the house that roared so loudly when Black was sorted into Gryffindor.

When about half of the students were already sorted, it was finally Oliver's turn. He barely had the hat one when it already called out Hufflepuff. He shot Lara a happy smile and Lara crossed her fingers. Oh, she hoped to be in Hufflepuff so bad. Otherwise she would need to make new friends all over again. And for someone that had only lived in an orphanage with the same people, that was actually a hard thing to do.

It took Lara quite something to actually focus as she was getting more nervous by the minute. She wanted to be in Hufflepuff, so bad. So she could just stay friends with Oliver and Annie. She didn't want to start all over again, again. She just wanted to have friends.

After what seemed hours, but weren't, McGonagall finally called out her name. 'Owen, Lara.' Lara quickly walked over to the stool, focussing on her feet so she wouldn't trip, and finally reached it. After which she sat down and felt McGonagall put the hat on her head, though it sank to a point far over her eyes.

' _Hmm, interesting. You're a tough one, I'd say. You would do very good in Hufflepuff, I might say,'_ a small voice said in her ears, or was it her head?

' _Yes please! Hufflepuff please!'_ she tried to think as loudly as possible, but that wasn't that simple. How did one scream in their thoughts?

' _Hufflepuff, yeah? But you would do excellent in Gryffindor too. Definitely a tough one,'_ the voice went on, and Lara shook her heads ever so lightly.

' _Not Gryffindor. Please, let me be in Hufflepuff!_ ' she begged, just hoping it would help. At least the hat could hear her, so that was one thing.

' _Are you very sure? You would do good in Hufflepuff. Indeed. But you would do even better in GRYFFINDOR!'_


	5. Chapter 4

Lara wanted to scream no. But she realized that that would be really, really weird. So she just put on a smile as if she was really happy to be in Gryffindor, when in fact, she was really disappointed that she wasn't sorted into Hufflepuff. She really had to start over again.

As soon as McGonagall took the hat of Lara's head, she hopped of the stool and walked over to the cheering table, where she sat down next to a girl with long, thick, brown hair. Because Lara hadn't paid that much attention, she had no idea who the girl actually was. She only knew that she too was just sorted into Gryffindor.

As the sorting went on, Lara now found herself clapping whenever a new person was sorted into Gryffindor, though she didn't fully mean it. She stared at the Hufflepuff table, longing. Oh, how she wanted to sit there too.

When Werner, Scott was the last to be sorted into Hufflepuff, McGonagall took the stool and the hat and left the Great Hall. Meanwhile at the teachers table, professor Dumbledore rose and looked at all the students sitting at the four tables.

'To the new students, I say; "welcome", and to those returning for yet another year of banter and mischievous and maybe a bit of studying, "welcome back". Mr. Filch asked me to remind all students that the forest remains forbidden and that a full list of all forbidden objects is located on the door of his office, for anyone who wants to refresh their memory, to see. But why talk much, when you all have lots to tell each other over dinner. I'd say, enjoy,' he spoke and as soon as he pronounced the last word, hundreds of dishes with the most delicious looking food, appeared out of nowhere.

Lara loaded small amounts of everything on her plate. It just looked so good that she wanted to try it all out.

'Hi, I'm Marlene and this is Mary, who are you?' the girl with the brown hair asked her and she pointed at the girl sitting on the other side of her. She smiled friendly, and Lara knew she couldn't hold a grudge because she wasn't sorted into the house she wanted to be in. So she decided this would be her second chance of making friends.

'I'm Lara. Lara Owen. Nice to meet you!' she answered, after swallowing a bit of the most amazing dish in the world.

'I'm Lily Evans,' a girl with long, red hair said from the beginning of the row of first years. She was sorted right after Sirius Black, who was now talking animatedly to a guy with black hair and glasses, who Lara had seen in Madame Malkin's when she was fitting for her school robes.

Lily quickly switched seats with a small fat guy who was sorted after Lara, so she was closer to the girls. 'So we're with eight, aren't we? Four boys, four girls.'

'Seems like it, doesn't it,' said Mary. 'Do you guys know anyone yet?'

'Well, I sat in the same compartment as these guys and I know my best friend, Severus, but he is in Slytherin,' Lily spoke. She didn't seem shy at all, and answered the question as if she had known them for all her life.

'Well, I know two who are both in Hufflepuff. But for the rest, no,' Lara answered secondly. She wished she was as fast in answering as Lily was, and didn't want to seem shy, so she answered as fast as she could. There still was a smile on her face, but Lara had no idea how it came there and was about ninety percent sure, it was a fake one.

'We sat in the same compartment as a couple of Ravenclaw 4th years, but they barely even looked at us, so I wouldn't even call it knowing. But my cousin is in year 6 of Gryffindor so I know him,' Marlene said as she went for seconds.

They continued to chitchat for a while and Lara actually found herself enjoying the company of these girls. She might even become good friends with them. She probably would become good friends with them. They were going to share a dormitory for the next seven years. If they didn't become good friends, it could get really awkward.

When the last dishes of pudding were cleaned away, professor Dumbledore rose again and wished them all a good night. Chaos immediately irrupted and Lara looked at the girls to see if they actually knew what to do.

A tall, unattractive boy that seemed to be around fifteen years old, summoned the first years. 'First years after me please. I'll show you the way to our common room,' he spoke and when he saw that all of the first years of Gryffindor were around him, he turned around and walked out of the hall, with the first years following him.

He kept speaking as they walked up hundreds of flights of stairs. It seemed to be something he knew by heart and Lara secretly suspected him of having it practiced all summer. He seemed like the bloke to do so. 'I am Matt, a prefect. You can come to me with everything you like to talk about. But you can also go to Donna, the other prefect. You know, with girl stuff.'

One look at Mary, Marlene and Lily, and Lara knew that they would never, even if their lives depended on it, go to him with _anything_. But he probably was nice. He was just… odd.

After what seemed like hundreds of stairs, they arrived on a small landing with only a portrait of a rather fat lady on it. What were they going to do?

'Isn't there a door somewhere? Maybe it's hidden and we have to find it to get into the common room!' the fat boy exclaimed and the other guys roared with laughter.

'Are you serious too, Peter?' said Black. 'Of course not! He is just lost, that's all!'

'Cavete Periculum,' Matt said when he heard the boys laughing and just like that, the portrait swung away, revealing a hole in the wall, after which lay… 'the common room, thank you very much.'

One after the other, they climbed through the hole and stumbled into the common room. It was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. The colours red and gold were everywhere, on the walls, the drapes and even in the paintings. It was breathtakingly gorgeous.

'Girls on the right, boys on the left. Hop, hop, off to bed. You all have an early start tomorrow!' Matt continued and he pointed to two doors on either side of the room. And just like that, the first years left the common room to the bedroom.

They had to go up four flights of the spiral staircase, before they finally arrived at a door with _Year 1_ written on it with artsy, golden letters. The room was, though very simple, extremely beautiful, just like the common room downstairs. Four four-posters were pushed against the walls. Each of them, accompanied with a bedside table and a small wardrobe. On each bed was a trunk placed and on two of them also a cage with an animal. One with Spot, Lara's cat and one with a beautiful dark grey owl.

Lara walked over to her bed and made an attempt to push the trunk off the bed. It took some effort, but eventually, with what seemed like an explosion, the trunk fell on the ground. The other girls did the same, with the same sound.

Barely two seconds later, the door busted open. 'Are you alright? What was that sound?' a girl who was barely older than they were asked. She was accompanied by a couple of nosy girls who were all way too eager to look into the bedroom.

'Sorry that was just… our trunks,' Marlene tried to say without giggling.

'There isn't any other way to do that, is there?' the girl smiled and she hushed the others away, after which she walked into the room. 'I remember when I tried to do it last year. They don't think about it when they put the trunks up on the bed. A trunk heavier than you are yourself and you can't sleep with it still on your bed. My name's Alice,' she continued.

The girls introduced themselves, happy that they weren't in trouble for the sound they had made.

'Anyways, it's late and I'm eager to get to bed. Just give us a little head's up when you make this sound again, okay?' Alice said and, with a smile on her face, she left the room.

Though they all were eager to talk about anything they had seen that day, it had been a very long one and they were all exhausted. They changed into their nightdresses in silence, after which they crawled into bed. A bed that was way bigger than them and took them in like a warm bear hug.

For the first time in over nine years, Lara didn't wake up in her little bedroom in the Orphanage. No, this room was different. Much warmer…

The first minute after she woke up, Lara spent disorientated. She didn't know where she was and she was trying her hardest to remember how she had come here. Frustrated, because after that minute it still hadn't come back, she opened the drapes, accidently tearing it.

'Shit!' she hissed, but immediately put her hands in front of her mouth. She wasn't allowed to swear. Not in the slightest bit.

'Mum?' A girl with long, bright red hair, looked through one of the drapes around her bed. It was Lily.

Just when Lara recognized the girl, she realized where she was. Hogwarts. Her first day. She, literally, was about to learn some magic.

'It's me, Lily. It's Lara,' she whispered in the hope that the girl would wake up. But Lily had already turned around and had gone back to sleep.

Perfect, she had broken the place the first morning she was there. That would look perfect on her resume, wouldn't it?

Just that thought give her the giggles. She knew it was way too early to make such noise, but she really just couldn't help it. She could never have a normal job again. If they would ask what school she had gone to for her secondary education, she had to say she had gone to Hogwarts. And Hogwarts was a school they didn't know. But then again, did she want a muggle job? She rather not.

Because she didn't own a watch, she didn't know what time it was and had nowhere to look. But Lara eventually settled on getting dressed and going downstairs to get some breakfast. She had to once, so why not now?

Lara put on her uniform, which she had only worn the previous day. It still felt new and she was proud to wear it. The only new addition to the uniform was, of course, the Gryffindor tie. She was happy she had learned how to tie a tie in the orphanage. Otherwise she would have had to ask one of the girls to do it for her. Or even one of those stuck up boys. Yuck, she didn't even want to think about it.

By the time Lara was finished getting dressed and had put her blonde hair in a neat plait, none of the other girls were up, so she just took her bag and left the bedroom. She had contemplated whether or not she would make her bed, but had chosen against it in the end. This was the first time ever that she wasn't sure she had to do it, or not. She might as well use it and not make it for once.

She walked down all the stairs to get to the Great Hall. Well, there was one good thing and that was that she didn't have to do any exercise anymore. Climbing the stairs was more than enough.

As soon as she walked into the hall, she spotted Oliver and Annie sitting at the Hufflepuff table. It was definitely still early since not even all the teachers were there.

Lara thought about going over and if she was even allowed to, but went in anyway, in the end. She would hear it soon enough if she wasn't allowed to. And why wouldn't she?

'Good morning,' she greeted them and set down next to Annie.

'Hi Lara! Oh, I miss you already! Why are you not in Hufflepuff?' the girl exclaimed and pulled her into a hug as if she hadn't seen Lara in years. Instead of having met her only the day before.

'I don't know! It really sucks! But, I mean, we can still be friends, right? Maybe we have some classes together,' Lara hoped, after which Oliver nodded.

'My dad told me that they double some classes, indeed. I really hope we do! Maybe we even have flying lessons together!' he smiled widely.

'Flying lessons? We're going to learn how to fly?' Annie sounded as if she had just heard that the earth was flat after all. This had probably been her reaction upon hearing she was a witch.

'Of course we are. How else are we going to learn how to play quidditch?' Oliver almost seemed insulted that both Annie and Lara didn't know what quidditch was and he started to explain the sport with as much detail as she could.

At first it seemed a bit of a strange sport to Lara, but maybe after she watched a game of it, her view on it would change. She, in fact, was interested about it.

Oliver and Annie kept talking about it, whilst Lara kind of zoomed out. It wasn't that she wasn't interested in it, she just got caught up in all the students that were starting to arrive for breakfast. They all seemed so… calm. As if they knew exactly what they had to do and what was expected of them.

Lara said her goodbye's to Annie and Oliver, when she saw Mary and Lily walk into the hall, and she went over to them.

'Morning!' she smiled, now fully awake. The girls sat down at the Gryffindor table and dug into their breakfast. Lara had only nibbled on a piece of toast with marmalade when she was sitting with Annie and Oliver, and she was starting to really get hungry. So she grabbed a boil with porridge and started to spoon the warm stuff in her mouth.

'You eat like a pig,' Mary chuckled, her mouth full of toast herself.

'Good morning girls, I've got your schedules here. Please tell Marlene McKinnon to come to me for hers if she gets out of bed anytime soon,' McGonagall said hastily and she quickly handed each of the girls a piece of parchment. With a touch of her wand, a schedule appeared.

'Splendid, we've got transfiguration by you first, professor,' Lara exclaimed. She was really excited for transfiguration. It seemed like a subject she would really enjoy and her schoolbooks about it were certainly really interesting. Besides, she would start off with really magic right away.

'Oh dear. That is going to be interesting. See you then girls. Enjoy your meal,' McGonagall said, though she didn't seem as happy as she did before. Wasn't she looking forward to teaching them?

But soon enough Lara realized what the problem was. Because four guys, the other first years of Gryffindor, ran the Great Hall in and starting to good around. As if they were still in primary school.

'Toddlers,' Lily said disapprovingly. Okay, it wasn't that bad, right? They were only goofing around? But then again, the girls too were representatives of Gryffindor. And if the boys messed it up, the other students would look at the girls the same way. Yeah, maybe Lily was right. Maybe they were toddlers after all.

'Oh no! We've got a double period, potions with the Slytherins after transfiguration!' Marlene exclaimed. She had walked in right after the boys, but because she had done it very quietly, they hadn't noticed her. She was looking at Mary's timetable and didn't seem very pleased.

Lara looked at the class schedule again and noticed something she hadn't seen the first time she looked. After potions, they had a double period herbology. With Hufflepuff! Maybe she would even be able to work with Annie or Oliver. She hoped so. But then again, Lara was already happy that they at least had one subject together. Maybe being in Gryffindor wasn't so bad after all.


End file.
